1: "But no longer. Now I'm the butt of their jokes--young ruffians! whippersnappers!
2: Why, I considered their fathers mere inexperienced pups. But they are worse than dogs--good for nothing, stray, mangy animals,
3: Half-starved, scavenging the back alleys, howling at the moon;
4: Homeless guttersnipes chewing on old bones and licking old tin cans;
5: Outcasts from the community, cursed as dangerous delinquents.
6: Nobody would put up with them; they were driven from the neighborhood.
7: You could hear them out there at the edge of town, yelping and barking, huddled in junkyards,
8: A gang of beggars and no-names, thrown out on their ears.
9: "But now I'm the one they're after, mistreating me, taunting and mocking.
10: They abhor me, they abuse me. How dare those scoundrels--they spit in my face!
11: Now that God has undone me and left me in a heap, they hold nothing back. Anything goes.
12: They come at me from my blind side, trip me up, then jump on me while I'm down.
13: They throw every kind of obstacle in my path, determined to ruin me--and no one lifts a finger to help me!
14: They violate my broken body, trample through the rubble of my ruined life.
15: Terrors assault me--my dignity in shreds, salvation up in smoke.
16: "And now my life drains out, as suffering seizes and grips me hard.
17: Night gnaws at my bones; the pain never lets up.
18: I am tied hand and foot, my neck in a noose. I twist and turn.
19: Thrown facedown in the muck, I'm a muddy mess, inside and out.
20: "I shout for help, God, and get nothing, no answer! I stand to face you in protest, and you give me a blank stare!
21: You've turned into my tormenter--you slap me around, knock me about.
22: You raised me up so I was riding high and then dropped me, and I crashed.
23: I know you're determined to kill me, to put me six feet under.
24: "What did I do to deserve this? Did I ever hit anyone who was calling for help?
25: Haven't I wept for those who live a hard life, been heartsick over the lot of the poor?
26: But where did it get me? I expected good but evil showed up. I looked for light but darkness fell.
27: My stomach's in a constant churning, never settles down. Each day confronts me with more suffering.
28: I walk under a black cloud. The sun is gone. I stand in the congregation and protest.
29: I howl with the jackals, I hoot with the owls.
30: I'm black and blue all over, burning up with fever.
31: My fiddle plays nothing but the blues; my mouth harp wails laments.